Riley's Pond (New Adult Romance) (9 page)

Laughter started at the pool table he’d stepped away from, catching on like wildfire in a field of straw. But one voice rose above the others, the timbre familiar and pushed my heart hard against my ribs. Riley had been flushed out.

He sauntered slowly my direction, clapping his hands. “Bravo my lady!” He took a bow and I returned the gesture doing a curtsy, complete with the stretching out of the hem of my dress. He closed the last few inches between us, his eyes rolling slowly over my body before meeting my gaze.

Riley’s lowered voice, brought me closer to listen. Another tactical maneuver outsmarting me when his arm curled around my waist. His lips curled over my ear. “Miss me? I thought I wasn’t going to see you until tomorrow night.”

Our lips came dangerously close to touching. “You wish. I was told this was the place to hang on Friday nights.”

His breath felt hot hovering close to my mouth. “You’re lying. You want me, so you came looking for me,” he whispered.

The smile on my face hurt it grew so wide. “You’re right. I want you—to buy me a cheeseburger.” I pushed away watching Riley’s deflated ego blow out the corner of his twisted lips.

Accepting my challenge, he disappeared and returned to the booth I’d settled into at the back corner of the eatery section, holding red checkered boxes overflowing with steaming fries and burgers.

The low purr of bowling balls gliding down the polished lanes, a few actually causing loud crashes when pins slammed the back of the alley wall, competed with the music pulsing through speakers.

I touched my lip to catch a drip of ketchup. “These really are good,” I said, genuinely surprised.

Riley dipped a fry in some tangy sauce and fed it to me. “Barney used to be a grill cook in San Francisco before opening this joint. Sometimes, he makes garlic burgers. They could possibly be considered better than sex.”

“You’ve been dating some pretty lame chicks, if burgers rate that high on your ecstasy meter.”

Riley dipped another fry, shoving it in his mouth. His head turned toward a small gaggle of girls giggling obnoxiously. Except one. A petite little thing who would be pretty if someone removed the tarantula eyelashes from her eyelids. She faced us, her gaze locked on Riley…whose gaze locked on her.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I have.”

“Her?” I asked, although it was more than obvious.

“Maybe.”

“Am I missing something here? She’s all google-eyed at you, and well, you’re not exactly being subtle in staring her down.”

Riley’s attention returned from wherever it had wandered. An unmistakable disdain tainted his tone. “We dated for a while, but it’s over.”

“She cheated on you?”

“Why do you think that?”

I touched his hand, smoothing the tension from his knuckles. “Because your teeth are clenched, your knuckles white…and you look sad.” Those eyes flashed to mine and his hand flattened on the table.

“She’s not the one who hurt me.”

“Sorry. You don’t have to tell me. It’s none of my—”

“My brother did,” he blurted out.

A couple of lumps rolled down his throat. Cautiously, I slid my hand over his again. His fingers wrapped mine, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“Yeah, I would,” I replied around a smile. We slipped out of the booth and headed for the exit. I hooked a finger over my shoulder. “I, uh, need to use the restroom first. Meet you out front?” He nodded and his smile reached his eyes, ratcheting my heart rate.

When I came out of the bathroom stall, “spider eyes” leaned against the sink, arms crossed and face burning red, clear to her blitz-dangled earrings.

“Stay away from Riley,” she warned around what sounded like a mouth of gravel. “He’s
mine.
”

“That’s not what he says.” I muscled around her to wash my hands. Suddenly my head yanked backwards.
Jealous ex-girlfriend
had a fistful of my hair.

“Ouch! Let go!”

“Not until you promise to stay away from Riley!”

I swatted backwards with my purse, trying to hit her arm to loosen her grip, but she held tight.

“Listen you little bitch, Riley can see whoever he wants, got that?” I kicked at her shin and she jumped back, letting go, but keeping a handful of
my
hair.

She lunged at me, teeth bared, and I wondered if she could transform into some paranormal beast. I held her arms, keeping her claws from scratching my face, but the weight of her body threw me back against the counter, banging my hip against the edge. Tears rimmed my eyes following the jab of pain.

The bathroom door opened, our screams summoning an audience. “Chick fight!” some ass yelled out. The sound of feet running our direction mimicked a small stampede.

All I could do was roll side to side to avoid her fake fingernails gouging my face, or her hands grabbing my hair again. She stomped on the top of my foot and I screamed out, losing my grip. Her hands fisted into the sides of my hair again and a feral growl spat through her teeth. One lethal nail cut across my bottom lip and a metallic tasting drop of blood dripped on my tongue.

“
Bitch!”
I shrilled.

Suddenly, the pressure from her clamped hands released and her body pulled away. My hero swooped in and rescued me from the wild creature. Riley.

“Stop it, Kaylee!” She twisted fitfully in his arms, her legs swinging freely as he held her in the air. “I mean it, Kaylee! Knock this shit off right now!” He dropped her when her nails scratched his arm. We’d both need to be checked for rabies.

Riley recovered quickly, grabbing her before she escaped. This time she turned on him, pounding her fists against him. Her growls turned to tears and soon she gave up, burying her head into Riley’s chest, sobbing.

“I love you, Riley. Please don’t dump me,” she cried. Standing close, I heard Riley’s reply, barely above a whisper.

“Sorry Kaylee, it’s too late. I don’t care anymore.”

The crowd at the door parted and a large man, wider than tall, burst into the restroom.

“What the hell is going on in here?” He regarded me, hair sticking out in all directions and blood dipping off my lip. He grabbed a paper towel and handed it to me. “You okay, Miss?”

I think I said
yes
, but felt too stunned to know for certain.

The wicked little witch conveniently held tight to Riley, whose expression showed the conflict he felt. The girl in his arms still meant something to him, I could see that, but nothing strong enough to make me feel threatened. But when he embraced her, a touch of jealousy pricked.

I figured out the man filling all the empty space in the small bathroom was
Barney.
He literally pried Kaylee off Riley, keeping a firm grip on her arm. “All right, Miss Baker, you’re coming with me.” He stopped, holding the writhing demon. “You want to press charges?”

“I’ll think about it,” I answered, glaring at my attacker. One of her eyelashes hung lopsided. I knew I wouldn’t do anything, but she didn’t. Let her squirm.

“No! Riley please!” she pled in desperation. Riley’s hands went up, palms out.

“Your mess, Kaylee.
All
of it.”

Barney pulled Riley’s hysterical ex out and shut the door, verbally banning anyone from coming in. Riley remained a few feet from me, scrubbing the back of his neck.

“So, this is what the girl’s restroom looks like?”

I huffed a half laugh, pressing my finger to my lip. Riley wet the corner of another paper towel and pressed it to the cut. I hissed against the sting.

“Hold still you big baby.” His lips pressed my forehead. “Sorry about ‘psycho bitch’.”

“She’s just desperate to hold on to you,” I tried to say with a paper towel pushing my lips crooked.

Riley removed the towel, placing pressure with his lips instead.

“Ouch.” He stepped away, but I caught his belt loops and pulled him back. “Don’t. I’m fine.” I brushed my lip with my finger, “See? It says so right here in the fine print.”

“Let me see,” he teased.

This time when he took my mouth I didn’t care if it hurt like hell. The sensuous feel of his velvet lips, the taste of sweet onion on his tongue, and the gentle touch of hands sliding up my back to pull me into a deeper kiss erased the pain. A hot tingle trickled through my body from my toes to the tip of my head.

“I think it says ‘made in heaven’,” he said between heady kisses.

My mind swam deliriously. I was making out with a hot boy…in the girls’ restroom.

**

Riley’s tail lights glowed like rubies when my headlights closed in on them. He leaned against his truck, the sexy outline of his body silhouetted by the full moon hanging lazily above the lake. Behind him, the lake shimmered silver from the glow.

“I almost missed the turn off. Don’t you people believe in streetlights on your highways? It’s so damn dark out here.”

His arms slowly drew me against him. “Welcome to the country ‘city girl’.”

My cheek pressed his chest and somewhere below the warm muscle, a heart thumped fast. Fingers twirled tortuous circles on the back of my neck, and my arms pulled the massive hulk of pheromone overloaded testosterone tighter. I could die right now and be happy.

“Riley?”

“Yeah?”

“I changed my mind. I want to know about ‘psycho bitch’.”

His arms fell away, his fingers interlacing with mine. Stopping at the side door of his truck, he hit the key fob, momentarily lighting our world with a flash of white. He handed me a blanket from inside.

“Anticipating something Mr. Martin?” I teased, secretly glad I’d have something soft to lay my sore head on when we started making out. Because we would. His palm felt sweaty in my hand and our voices sounded too breathy to be normal.

“I’m a Boy Scout. Always prepared.” Still holding my hand, he bent my arm behind my back pulling me close. Our hips bumped clumsily as we walked a few feet away from the truck to a smooth spot on the beach.

I paced, feeling nervous and excited at the same time. Riley dropped onto the blanket, leaning over his folded knees. He patted the spot next to him, beckoning me to sit beside him. Circling his arm around my shoulders, he leaned into me, his mouth close enough I could feel his warm breath on my lips. His long eyelashes fanned out on his cheeks, when his eyes closed.

“So. Did you and that Kaylee girl have sex?”

Riley licked his lips, and sat up, surprised I’d broke the spell and probably killed the mood based on his loud, frustrated sigh.

“Really? You want to discuss my ex
now?
”

“Considering what happened back at the bowling alley, I think
now
is exactly the right time. Next time the little bitch may stab me with her
Barbie
nail file. Honestly, how old is she?”

“Sixteen.”

“Ah, get ‘em young and teach ‘em right, huh?”

Riley’s brows knitted. “No, nothing like that. What’s going on Taylor? You were all over me in the bathroom, but here, you’re an ‘ice queen’ in training. I mean, seriously, isn’t moonlight and a lake romantic enough? Do you need a toilet and ‘quilted squares’ covering the floor to be in the mood?”

I couldn’t help but notice the night breeze could now blow between us. “I’m curious, that’s all. She seemed awfully attached to you and, well, you weren’t exactly being a hard ass with her. How close were you two?”

Riley dropped backward on the blanket, pressing his fists into his eye sockets. “Shit. I can’t believe I’ve got the hottest chick in Wellsville alone on a blanket, and all she wants to do is
talk.
”

I uncurled a fist and laced my fingers through his. “You seriously did not just call me a ‘chick’?”

“Hot chick. There’s a distinct difference.” He turned on his side to face me. “Fine. About Kaylee. We dated for I guess, about nine months. We met at a Halloween party last fall.”

He paused, raising on one elbow to peek at me. “You really want to talk about the
physical
stuff between me and her?” I nodded and he cursed. “No. I’ve never had sex with Kaylee. Wanted too real bad and managed to ‘round the bases’ but never hit the ‘home run’. She was always too scared.”

“What about other girls?”

“
Seriously
?”

I lowered onto my elbow, eye level with his dreamy eyes. “Yeah, Riley.
Seriously.
”

“You know I could tell you anything and you’d never know if I told the truth or not.”

I lay beside him, our shoulders touching. “I’d know if you lied, trust me.”

This time when his mouth hovered, I wrapped the back of his neck with my hand, keeping him from pulling away. “But you won’t.”

The kiss was gentle, his lips soft. Mine parted and I welcomed the slow, deep kiss and the feel of Riley’s body against the length of mine when he moved on top of me. His finger hooked under the strap of my sundress, slowly pulling it down so he could kiss my bare shoulder.

“No, I haven’t with anyone else, either,” he whispered against my jaw on his quest to sample the length of my neck. His lips curled over my ear, “But I wouldn’t mind trying it out with you.” His body shifted and molded into my curves. “Taylor, you scare me.”

“Good,” I mumbled against his moist lips. “Because you terrify me.” His hand tentatively moved to cup my breast, and my breath hitched. We stopped kissing, staring at each other. His hand didn’t move and I didn’t push it away. Our swallows sounded loud in the sudden silence permeating the air around us.

When his index finger slowly reached up and tugged the top my dress down, exposing a bit more flesh than I was ready to show, not to mention his thumb took a torturous liberty, I covered his hand to stop matters from progressing…and me from burning internally.

“Riley, stop. I’m not going there.”
Yet.
He rolled off me and an uncomfortable awkwardness fell between us. I folded my arms tight across my chest to stop a sudden tremble and keep Riley’s hands off. “I’m still a virgin.”

A declaration of importance and totally necessary, given he hadn’t even taken me for pizza, as promised. But that supposedly would be tomorrow night. Tonight, I sought him and everything that encompassed Riley Martin.